


On saving the world, and what happens after

by Beleriandings



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Post-Episode: s04e13 Journey's End, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22993903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beleriandings/pseuds/Beleriandings
Summary: After the events of Journey's End, Gwen and Ianto wait for Jack to come home.
Relationships: Gwen Cooper & Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper & Jack Harkness & Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 37
Kudos: 127





	On saving the world, and what happens after

It was only after it was over – the sky bright again on the CCTV feed outside, the time lock dissipated, acrid smoke drifting off the ruined remains of a dalek’s outer casing in the middle of the cog door – that Ianto let himself break apart.

Gwen knew she wasn’t supposed to see it. They’d been on opposite sides of the Hub – it still felt empty at the best of times these days with just the three of them, and even more so without Jack’s expansive presence filling up the room – beginning the long, slow process of cleaning up. Odd, how every alien invasion ultimately boiled down to a lot of tidying up for them to do afterwards, but then again, Gwen only dreaded the day when they weren’t there to pick up the pieces.

Something to do, something to fill the time until Jack got back. He’d called, after the Doctor had dropped him off back on earth; his teleport was apparently broken again, so he’d be taking the long way, and bringing a couple of friends for a visit too. Gwen was glad of that: she knew they could use the extra help. But for her own part, all she wanted to do right now was go home and curl up on the sofa with Rhys, fall asleep in his arms even though it was the middle of the afternoon. She should be used to the adrenaline crash that came after the world nearly ended by now, but maybe that was something one never really got used to.

That was what she wanted to do, but she couldn’t yet, she knew. While it was just her and Ianto, she wouldn’t leave him here alone. Not when she’d seen the way he was today. He was good at hiding it, but she’d just about known him long enough now that she could tell.

She’d never seen a dalek before today. But she did remember Tosh telling her once about when they’d gone to pick through the ruins of Torchwood One, the blaster scorch marks burned into the concrete alongside the splattered human blood and viscera that had been the result of the Cybermen’s last attempts at conversion. The atrocities that had been done there. She pulled up the CCTV feed, thinking about how Ianto had been today; pale and tense, his jaw clenched too tightly, his knuckles white on his gun as they had made what they both thought would be their last stand against the dalek. The way he’d trembled when he thought she wasn’t looking.

She’d seen plenty of trauma in her time, plenty of people reliving nightmares of their past. Ianto was better at hiding it than most, which was probably cause for worry in its own right.

Gwen peered at him on the CCTV. He was standing in the middle of the medical bay, picking things up off the ground that had been knocked down in the initial tremors as the earth was taken. She couldn’t see his face, but he moved like a sleepwalker, like he wasn’t seeing what was in front of him.

She grimaced; there were scalpels and needles there, for a start. Ianto wasn’t by nature a careless person, but in this state, who knew. She started to walk down the stairs, her eyes catching on the remains of the dalek in the cog doorway. She frowned; she should move that, so Ianto didn’t have to. But perhaps it could wait until Jack got back.

She smiled up at the ceiling as she heard the familiar screech of Myfanwy coming home to roost. She must have been confused by the darkness and the planets in the sky, poor thing, Gwen thought.

“Ianto - ” Gwen broke off, as she came into the med bay and saw him leaning against the wall by the stairs, head in his hands.

At the sound of her voice, he flinched violently. He raised his head, eyes wide with alarm, before seeing it was her and turning away again, hastily. He tried to stand up too fast to resume his tidying, hitting his elbow on the railing in a way that looked painful. But by that time, Gwen was beside him, laying a hand on his arm. “Ianto?” she said. “Are you okay?”

“Fine” he said, avoiding her eye.

“No, you’re not.”

He stared at her for a moment, and seemed about to argue the point. Then his face contorted, eyes tearing up again, as he flushed, turning away and covering his face with his arm. “S-sorry” he muttered, muffled by the cloth, choking on each word. “I’ll be okay, I...I - ”

His breaths came too fast, and she could see the way his hand on the railing shook, clinging on to steady himself even as he turned away from her. “Ianto!” she said, catching hold of his wrist, but to her surprise, he swatted her hand away, hard. Apparently, the violence of it had surprised him too, because he turned back to her, eyes wide and red-rimmed. “Gwen” he breathed. “I’m sorry, I...” he tailed off, trembling too hard to speak properly and clinging to the metal railing as though it was all he had to hold on to.

“Ianto. Sit down with me” said Gwen, reaching out to him gently. She’d hardly seen him like this since Lisa; he was always so collected. Even after Tosh and Owen, it hadn’t been like this. But then, she supposed, it had been the three of them in it together; now, Ianto was probably reliving memories that she couldn’t help him through. She wished Jack was here; he’d be better at this.

Well, she would at least try. She felt encouraged, as Ianto let her take hold of his wrist, removing it gently from the railing, and helped him sit down on the steps. Immediately, he ducked his head forward, hiding his face from her, but she could see his whole frame trembling just as hard as before.

Gwen sat down beside him. “Hey, hey” she said, putting an arm around him and rubbing small circles on his back. “It’s okay. It’s over now.”

He shuddered under her touch, but said nothing.

“Jack will be back soon” she tried. He looked up at her at this, eyes darting a little. “He _will_ ” she insisted.

He nodded, then looked up at her, seeing her with slightly clearer eyes. “You should go home to Rhys” he said. “I can handle things here on my own.”

“Not a chance” said Gwen firmly, putting her arm around his shoulders and pulling him against her side. “Not until Jack gets back. I’ve already texted Rhys, he knows I’ll be late.”

Ianto rolled his eyes, but didn’t protest. Instead, he let himself be held, leaning into her side just a little. “Thanks” he said after a while, in a quiet voice.

She gave his shoulder a squeeze. “You’re welcome. Always.”

* * *

Jack came running down the stairs to the med bay, blood beating fast and fearful in his ears. Neither Gwen nor Ianto had answered their phones for the last hour, and he’d come back in to the Hub to find a burnt-out dalek in the doorway, and the main space deserted. As soon as he’d seen that, the fear came back; that he was too late, that it hadn’t really been over. That he’d come back and find the body of someone he loved, lying dead on the floor of this damn place.

He’d left Martha and Mickey to deal with the dalek, and run to search the Hub in mounting panic. Finally, he got to the med bay; he’d almost dreaded coming here. All he could think of was when he’d run down these same steps only to find Tosh bleeding out, the life leaving her eyes before he could help her; it was still so fresh.

He skidded to a halt at the top of the stairs when he saw Gwen and Ianto there at the bottom, Gwen’s arm around Ianto’s shoulders. “What’s going on? Are you hurt? Oh no, please _no_ , not - ” his eyes widened, as Gwen turned to look at him, about to speak. Ianto hadn’t moved yet, head slumped against her shoulder.

For a moment, he couldn’t speak, the breath knocked out of him.

But an instant later, the dread gathering in the pit of Jack’s stomach dissipated like fog in sunlight, as Ianto shuddered awake, blinking blearily. “Oh” he mumbled, as Gwen helped him sit up. “Must’ve...almost fallen asleep. Sorry, I’ll...”

“It’s okay” said Gwen, smiling gently, stroking Ianto’s hair like a mother with a sick child. “It wears you out. But hey, Jack’s back!”

Ianto craned around to look at him, let out a soft, wordless sound. By this time, Jack was down the stairs and at Ianto’s other side, the three of them squashed uncomfortably tight on the narrow staircase. But it was okay, since it let Jack pull both of them into his arms in an awkward, cramped hug. Immediately, Gwen’s arm was around him pulling him closer despite the awkward angle, and Ianto had all but melted into his embrace, pressing his face into Jack’s shoulder.

They were still holding each other by the time Martha popped her head around the doorway. “Any injuries that need – oh” she said, as Jack looked up at her. She smiled. “See, Jack?” she said. “I told you they’d be alright.”

“I never doubted you, Martha Jones” he said, to cover the lump in his own throat. He pulled Gwen closer to his side and kissed her on the top of the head, then kissed Ianto’s temple, lingering there a moment. Ianto’s free hand came up to take Jack’s at his shoulder, lacing their fingers together; Jack held it tightly in his.

At that moment, Mickey came in after Martha. “Oh, so you’re Gwen and Ianto” he said, with a slight grin. “Nice to meet you at last. Jack wouldn’t shut up about you two on our way back here.”

Ianto raised his head to look up at him at last, with a slightly self-conscious, teary smile. “Good things, I hope?”

“Yeah, actually.” Mickey nodded. “The best.”

* * *

Gwen and Mickey and Martha had gone for the night, and the dalek remains had been shifted – much to Ianto’s relief – and Myfanwy had been calmed down and gone to sleep, and at last it was just Ianto and Jack left. Ianto checked his watch, mildly surprised by the fact that it was nearly 3am; in retrospect, the fact that he was almost asleep on his feet should have been a clue.

“Ianto.”

He turned at the sound of Jack’s voice. There was a catch in it. He frowned. “Hmm?”

Jack came over to him in three long, purposeful stride, gathering him up into his arms. After a moment, Ianto relaxed into his hug, just enjoying being held.

A moment later, he wrinkled his nose. “Why do you smell like burnt corpses and metal?” he asked Jack. He hadn’t noticed before – he must have been more far gone than even he had realised – but he recognised the smell now.

Jack winced. “Um. I kind of...escaped from an incinerator at one point, up there.”

“ _Jack!_ ”

“ _Escaped_ from, I said!”

“Did one of them kill you?” Ianto asked, frowning and running his hand across the scorch mark on Jack’s shirt. He knew the marks left by dalek blaster fire.

“...Yeah.”

“Did you...hmm...did you perhaps _let_ them kill you, to create a distraction and let the Doctor enact some plan or other?”

Jack opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again.

Ianto sighed, pulling Jack into a hug. “You really would do anything for him” he said. “He doesn’t deserve you.”

Jack chuckled, pulling back and touching Ianto’s cheek. “Well that’s fine, because he hasn’t got me, right now” he said. “You do.”

Ianto couldn’t resist a smug smile. Even though he knew, intellectually, that Jack would always run to the Doctor’s side if he needed him, even then, it was okay. Because somehow, by some strange turn of the universe, Jack was right. Not only had they saved the world, but Jack had come back for him. Again. And even if it was only temporary, well. He was fully aware of the typical lifespan of most Torchwood employees, present company excluded. But still, they could have a few years, even, for Jack to keep choosing him. He might never have to see or think of the Doctor again.

“Ianto.”

Jack saying his name made him take notice, as it always did, as it always would. “Yes?”

“Gwen told me about today.”

Ianto’s face fell. “I was okay through most of it, while we were fighting” he said. “It was only, really, after...” _trauma can sometimes cause a delayed re_ _sponse_ , he thought blandly, almost detached. He remembered some doctor or other telling him something similar once, but maybe he was remembering it wrong; he usually remembered everything, but he was so _tired_. “Tosh’s time lock saved us” he said, almost tearing up as he said the words; he missed Tosh and Owen so acutely sometimes, it was like a physical pain in his chest. “So it’s alright, really.”

“Huh,” said Jack, raising an eyebrow. “So you’ll say it doesn’t matter that you nearly died, because you _didn’t_ die, but you’ll still lecture me about getting killed, when I _can’t_ die? Interesting logic.”

Ianto glared. “I wasn’t _lecturing_ \- ”

Jack sighed, relenting and taking both of Ianto’s hands in his. “I know. Look, Ianto... I’m sorry” he said. “It was just...when I was up there, with the Doctor, all I could think about was you, back down here. Whether you were okay. If anything had happened - ”

Ianto looked him in the eye, laying his hand on Jack’s chest. “It _didn’t_ , though” he insisted. “Really. I’m okay, now.”

Jack gave a tired smile. “Maybe we’re both hypocrites, then.”

“Maybe we are.”

They stared at each other for another long moment.

Ianto was the first to break the silence. “Jack...” he said, voice cracking a little.

Jack seemed to know exactly what he needed, cupping his face and pulling Ianto in for a deep, slow kiss in the echoing quiet surrounding them. Once again, Ianto let himself melt into that embrace, letting Jack take some of his weight. He really was so tired.

“Come on, let’s go to bed” said Jack, when they broke apart. He held out his hand. “We helped save the world today. I think we’ve earned it, don’t you?”

Ianto took his hand, weaving his fingers through Jack’s again. “Yeah” he said. “I think we have.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small (canon-verse!) thing I wrote in between chapters of Just This Once because they all have so much trauma and I'm sad, but I love them (and I am especially obsessed with Gwen and Ianto's friendship right now...they're GOOD okay)  
> Shout-out to the Torchwood discord for encouraging me to actually write this down rather than just thinking about it ceaselessly until I cry.  
> Come say hi on tumblr @kanafinwhy!


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